ALLIGATOR PIE adapted from Dennis Lees childrens poems (Soulpepper). At Young Centre (50 Tank House). Runs to January 3 see website for schedule. $22-$60. 416-866-8666, soulpepper.ca. Rating: NNNN
In 2012, Soulpepper premiered a collective creation based on the work of poet and Canadian institution Dennis Lee the result was a delightful hour-long show for audiences three and up.
Devised by former Soulpepper Academy members Ins Choi, Raquel Duffy, Ken MacKenzie, Gregory Prest and Mike Ross, the production is now in the hands of other Academy grads: Peter Fernandes, Hailey Gillis, Qasim Khan, Courtney Chng Lancaster and Jennifer Villaverde.
Lees entertaining rhymes and narratives are complemented by clever staging, Rosss musical direction (which offers all sorts of ways of making percussive sounds) and MacKenzies wild costumes and props, many of the last putting everyday objects to unusual use. This years cast is as musical as the first, whether theyre playing recognizable instruments, beating different-sized plastic tubes or using office equipment (scissors, a roll of tape, a hold puncher and a pair of staplers standing in as castanets) to create a tango number. I promise you wont forget the use the cast makes of plastic bubble wrap…lots and lots of bubble wrap.
The show includes lots of Lee standards: Melvis And Elvis, in which a monster and an elf become fast friends in a library The Bratty Brother, about a girl who cant rid herself of her sibling The Cat And The Wizard, which takes place mostly in Casa Loma and the title number, a love song to various alligator-based foods.
While the pieces are clever and fun, they also touch on such topics as friendship, loneliness, memories and the important of connecting to others. These arent drummed into the young audience but sit just beneath the surface in scenes that include a runway fashion show, a tour of the world and a group of hunters on a safari its suggestive education, the points made subtly.
And if you or your children want a chance to hear Lee himself reading from his works, hell do so following Sunday performances (December 27 at 2:45 pm and January 3 at 2:15 and 5:15 pm), along with a book signing.
